Tmdsas Letters of rec. question

[JJArms22]

I am applying in Texas, hopefully submitting by the end of June. For my letters I was planning on submitting three. One from my ochem professor, and two from physicians. I realize two physician letters may be pointless and a bit redundant though. I've volunteered at my former pediatrician's office as a medical assistant for about a year now. I shadowed him on occasion as well, but my real experience came in the form of gaining clinical volunteer work. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an accredited MA, I have just been trained by his staff to do certain procedures. My aunt used to work for him, which is why I figure is the reason he let's me do a lot of hands on things. Anyways, I got the green light for a letter and he basically asked me what I'd like him to emphasize. I said clinical volunteer work. As to the other physician, I have strictly shadowed him for a number of hours now in the OR since October 2012. Probably around 50 hrs. He's a heart surgeon. He's really nice and down to earth as well. I think his letter would be valuable too because it would be evident of my shadowing experience. He is also UT Houston alum and I figure it couldn't hurt. I'm not sure though how this would be viewed to adcoms though. I was hesitant to ask other professors for letters because frankly I didn't think they'd be very genuine. Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks.

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[whatbout2morrow]

I am applying in Texas, hopefully submitting by the end of June. For my letters I was planning on submitting three. One from my ochem professor, and two from physicians. I realize two physician letters may be pointless and a bit redundant though. I've volunteered at my former pediatrician's office as a medical assistant for about a year now. I shadowed him on occasion as well, but my real experience came in the form of gaining clinical volunteer work. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an accredited MA, I have just been trained by his staff to do certain procedures. My aunt used to work for him, which is why I figure is the reason he let's me do a lot of hands on things. Anyways, I got the green light for a letter and he basically asked me what I'd like him to emphasize. I said clinical volunteer work. As to the other physician, I have strictly shadowed him for a number of hours now in the OR since October 2012. Probably around 50 hrs. He's a heart surgeon. He's really nice and down to earth as well. I think his letter would be valuable too because it would be evident of my shadowing experience. He is also UT Houston alum and I figure it couldn't hurt. I'm not sure though how this would be viewed to adcoms though. I was hesitant to ask other professors for letters because frankly I didn't think they'd be very genuine. Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks.

TMDSAS recommends that two letters be from people that can evaluate you academically. I would go around and ask the professors anyway if they would write you a strong recommendation letter. If you don't get a positive reply, then I guess you really don't have much of a choice. You are mentioning your shadowing experience under healthcare activities anyway, I don't know how much value a LOR adds.

 

[sector9]

The letter from the doctor you shadowed sounds kinda weak. Have you looked at the LOR requirements from TMDSAS? https://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/medical/application-instructions.html#eval_letters
They don't recommend sending more than 2 letters.